Keegan regarded her, his face carefully neutral. “He spoke of a princess whom he’d fallen in love with.”
“And what else did he say?”
“He said that if you ever saw him again, you’d kill him.”
Chapter Six
Footsteps outside her tent had Thalia jerking upright.
Cassius hadn’t appeared on the bedroll beside her, and sleep had yet to claim her. Everything beyond the tent was silent. Still.
Except a shadow passing by her tent—the figure of a woman.
Thalia eased off her bedroll, staring at the shadow before it faded away. Her heart rate quickened.
What the hell was a woman doing out here?
She moved toward the tent entrance, pushing aside the flap to peer into the camp. The Vampyrs who were asleep on their bedrolls were eerily as still as the forest around them. Thalia knew it was night only because of the slim sliver of moon filtering through the dense leaves. Strange that the Vampyrs were still asleep, seeing as night was when they roused.
The five Vampyrs who were sitting around the campfire didn’t stir as she eased out of the tent.
A flash of emerald green caught the corner of her eye, and Thalia turned, only to see a figure dart around one of the silver trees.
There was something familiar about the green fabric—
Slowly, Thalia crept after the retreating figure, moving around the gray trunks and fallen logs.
The figure stopped, stepping into a shaft of moonlight, and Thalia caught sight of golden hair as familiar as her own. “Mother?”
The Queen of Agripa turned toward her, eyes wide. Her hands were bound, her mouth gagged.
“Mother—”
The queen bolted, fleeing from some unseen horror.
“Wait!” Thalia’s heart leapt into her throat.
She ran after the queen’s retreating form. Branches cut her face as she jumped over stones, her boots skidding in the soft mud of a stream.
“Mother! What’s wrong?”
Thalia couldn’t make sense of it, but something in her urged her faster. Her mother was in danger. The queen was in danger—oh gods, had the Vampyrs gone back on their treaty? Had they somehow captured the queen?
Thalia ran, not caring how far she’d ventured, only that the blind terror in her mother’s face spurred her on.
“It’s me! It’s Thalia, let me help you!” Thalia yelled, her breath coming in deep pants.
Her mother slowed, her gown dirty and torn as if she’d escaped from someone.
The queen doubled over near an outcropping of rocks, shaking like a leaf.
“It’s okay, it’s me.” Thalia reached for her mother, grasping her shoulder. “We need to get out of here before the Vampyrs find you again.”
Her mother’s wide eyes took her in, and Thalia took her knife, cutting the binds around the queen’s hands, then ripped the gag off.
“What the hell happened?” Thalia asked, scanning the queen for other injuries. This would be the Vampyrs’ undoing. Not only going back on their treaty but trying to kidnap the queen—
Her mother gripped Thalia’s face, eyes searching hers. “You came for me.”
